


Soft Spot

by WeabooCreature



Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Gen, Gender Neutral Pronouns, No beta someone help me, Overthinking reader, Slice of Life, are you and him crushing on each other???, besties being besties, find out never!!!!
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-16
Updated: 2019-05-15
Packaged: 2020-01-14 21:33:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 8,012
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18484795
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WeabooCreature/pseuds/WeabooCreature
Summary: Conrad is an amazing friend but man oh man does he suck at talking like a normal person. Luckily he has you there to help to not talk so much like a robot





	1. a wacky lunch date

Being designed to be a cold hearted detective didn't leave Conrad to have much social etiquette with the civilians of Detroit.

Sure he got along well enough with charisma and witty remarks in conversation but when it came to actually continuing the conversation about normal everyday things, he was no better off than one of those old schooled Alexas.

This was the main reason why you had decided to try and help Conrad to not be so stiff around regular humans. He was the most advanced android known to Cyberlife thus far and the fact that he could get awkward once someone strayed from the usual dialogue path had you in stitches. The poor android would flounder the second someone would hit him with the, ‘But anyways,’ and then proceed to ask him about himself and how his day was going. Only to receive a stiff, ‘It's been acceptable’ or ‘It's going’ but you had to teach him that one.

Being a normie in his eyes, you were the perfect person to teach him how to have the day to day chats when he wasn't analyzing corpses. It also took an insane amount of time to convince him that, yes Conrad, you can't talk for shit unless it's about a person's hematocrit count or after you pull out their probably nonexistent record. It had taken five months, three weeks, and ten days, according to him for you to finally wear him down.

“I'm only doing this so that I may be more personable during investigations with civilians.” Conrad sat down in the chair across from you, one leg folded over the other with his arms in a similar fashion. 

He had dressed casually today as per your request. The LED light was still there but it didn't bother you as much as it used to after he explained why he kept it. Some androids might not agree with his reasoning but it was enough for you to not pester him about it anymore. He got some looks from people who you assumed were androids though.

“Or because you know you suck at talking to people? Maybe?” You teased, picking up the menu even though you knew what you were going to get. 

The cafe you had taken him to had recently popped up and quickly became a favorite of yours. You had been meaning to take Conrad to it soon after it had opened but his schedule was always too hectic to fit in free time. Now that you had him though, you were going to make the most out of it.

The man of the hour simply rolled his eyes in response and glanced over the menu, almost immediately flipping to the androids section to look over what types of thirum they had. “Perhaps, yes, my communication habits with civilians are…” He searched for a word.

“Shitty?”

Ah. What wonderful icey blue eyes you have Conrad. “Lacking. Though if you intend to bully me for our meeting then I can leave.”

You grinned, shaking your head and playfully kicking him under the table. “I'm just joshin’ you man don't worry. This'll be good for you trust me! Humans and probably androids don't like being spoken down to or to talk to someone who's mechanic and stiff so you learning some regular folk speech was bound to happen.”

Conrad sighed but nodded along as though he was resigned to his fate. “Do you know what you want?” He asked, glancing at you.

“Yep. The Destroyer.” This got a very concerned look from your dear friend.

“‘The Destroyer’? What on Earth is that?” 

“Oh dude, it's like, it's just the drink but it had so many exotic type fruits and veggies in it that mix so well together.” You gasped, practically slamming your hands against the table. “You should try it!”

He scrunched his nose up. “Not on your life. I also can't eat, android remember?”

“Come on! You could take like a sip or whatever you do at your crime scenes to analyze stuff and then you can tell me what's in it.” You barely knew what he did other than figure out crime scenes for homicide cases a things of that nature.

Conrad kept his job close to his chest and rarely told you in full detail what he did on a regular basis. The most you had gotten were watered down stories about his coworkers. The main ones were about a Captain Anderson, Lieutenant Reed, and his older brother Lieutenant Connor. You still had yet to see his brother but from what you've been told they look strikingly similar. 

Your friendship with him was weird now that you think about it. The two of you had met when your cat had literally gotten stuck in a tree. You had been too stubborn to call the fire department or whatever cliche to get the little bastard out so you were stuck jumping and making cooing noises to try at get her out of it. Once it started to hit sunset you were beginning to lose hope that you could ever get her to get down.

Then along came a far too uptight android.

Conrad had asked you what the issue was and why you were jumping. You, totally not in tears by the way, said that your cat had been stuck in the tree for hours. He gave you a confused look before craning his neck up to see the criminal kitty and turned back towards you, givin. You what you think was a smile though it was horribly stiff. It was endearing as hell through. 

The unlikely friendship blossomed over time but it was defies struggle to find time to hang out together. You had a regular job at some company which had you spending late nights in an office while Conrad was needed practically round the clock since he rarely got tired. Androids had won their freedom and were able to pick hours of work just like humans at yet the stubborn man still burned himself out. That was the subject of many arguments but you digress. 

You watched him narrow his eyes and lean his head back a bit, a tell that he was currently reading your vitals to figure out what you were thinking about. 

“You gotta break that habit.” He flinched slightly, sinking down into his seat and averted his eyes. 

“I'm aware.” 

You smiled softly. “It's okay. Just, be more careful about it. When you're working it might be okay or maybe when you think someone's a criminal or up to no good but out here,” you gestured to your surroundings. “You learn about people naturally. You ask them questions and you learn their backstory organically and not by scanning them.”

He listened to you intently, leaning forward a bit to hear you clearly over the noise as he nodded along to your words. “I understand. A civilian wouldn't feel comfortable if a complete stranger were to tell them everything there is to know about themselves therefore destroying whatever bond there might have been formed.” 

“Basically yeah.” At least he was a quick learner. You'd have to talk with Connor to try and help him speak more casually.

The two of you sat in comfortable silence. Conrad busied himself by people watching and you found yourself stuck in your thoughts once more.

He's grown, that much is clear. Conrad was much more patient when it came to basically everything.

Even though he was deviant and didn't have to stick to his original programming he continued to keep his cold and distant persona without letting his emotions shine through. The friendship was rocky and he was quick to tell you to mind your own business in his own ways or to cut the conversation short. _“It makes me feel like shit, Conrad.”_ You finally admitted one day when the two of you had gotten into a spat over it. 

Your gaze shifted to him. That day ended wonderfully after you both finally talked about his conflicting emotions. He confessed how he was struggling with what he was and had been ever since he turned deviant. His LED was stuck permanently on red for most of the night as the two of you talked. It took hours of working him through what he felt before he was comfortable enough to hug you and thank you for everything. 

A fond smile found its way on your lips. Conrad finally looked your way and smiled as well though his was confused. “What are you smiling about?-”

“Are you two ready to place your orders?” A peppy voice cut his sentence. 

You nodded, telling the waitress what you wanted and you waved your hand in a small circle, prompting Conrad to try and strike a conversation with her. 

He seemed to panic for a second, LED flickering yellow before settling back to the normal cool blue and he cracked his fingers absently. “What would you recommended for androids?” Each word was dragged out as if he was thinking of what to say and you knew for a fact that he was probably going through every word ever existed to form that simple sentence.

She perked up, smiling brightly at him before leaning down to point at the menu. “My friend told me that he really liked the Groovy Gravy. It’s sort of savery with some sweet thrown in but if that’s not your thing then the Night Owl would work if you want something to relax your nerves apparently.”

Conrad let out an amused huff. “Who names the drinks?”

“Some of the staff does actually! They’re all pretty dorky since most of the people who work here are either in school, college or high school, or just want to torture the customers who have to say the name.” 

You snickered, handing her the menu with a soft ‘thank you’. “I think they’re all cute. Don’t you think so, Cons?”

He blinked then nodded, fingers fiddling with the menu where the lamination was coming undone. “Yes.. They’re all unique in their own way and..” He looked at you for guidance to which you grinned smugly and gestured for him to continue. His lips pursed together and he looked up at the waitress. “And most likely- I-I mean, probably taste good…?”

She was at a loss for words. You could hardly contain your laughter at the sight before you. Poor Conrad was nearly blue up to his ears as the silence between the three of you set in and he shot you a glare. The woman was nice enough to laugh to spare him of any further embarrassment. 

“So what’ll it be?” She smiled at him and you swore that you saw steam spew from his ears. 

Oh shit did this interaction make him overheat? You absolutely do not have enough money to cover for his repairs oh god oh no oh fuc-

“Night Owl please. I think I will need something soothing if my dear friend intends to string me along for their pleasure.” OH GOD THERE’S HIS ‘I’m pissed off but can’t show it in front of people’ VOICE.

She nodded, writing down the drink before saying her goodbyes and heading off. You were so close to excusing yourself to hide out in the bathroom until your orders got to the table. He definitely knew by now what you’re half-baked plan was and reached out to grab your wrist to lock you in place.

“That was a dick move.”

Oh.

Points for using slang. 

You wiggled your hand in hopes of getting out of his death grip but to no avail. Sometimes you forget that he wasn’t human and was made out of durable metals and could lift a car. Something like that. It has been ages since he gave you his whole spiel about how much better he was than Connor. Love a good brotherly rivalry no matter how half assed and half sided it is.

“I’m sorry okay! I thought it would have been a good chance to try and get you to have a regular conversation with a stranger and it kind of worked! She’s nice and cute and pretty bubbly so it worked out well in the end.” You doubted that he was actually upset at you but the fear was still there.

Conrad sighed and let go of you, reverting back to his previous position with his arms crossed though he was much more relaxed. “Please warn me ahead of time if you plan on throwing me into a situation where I have to awkwardly talk to someone.”

You snickered but nodded all the same. What a dork. “I wanna get you exchange at least two or three sentences with her when she gives us our orders then when we pay. Think you can manage that, ‘o great and powerful Conrad?”

He shot you a lazy smirk in response. It made you think of what he would look like when he interrogates someone at the DPD. Bone chilling all the while giving you the impression that he knows how everything will turn out no matter what you try to do. 

Shit. He’s gonna somehow turn this all around on you isn’t he?

You’re just as socially awkward as he is! And he knows this! You hardly do any of the things that you give him advice on when it comes to talking to people and now the six foot little shit was going to call you on your bluffs!!! 

Conrad leaned in closer towards you, eyes half lidded as he held your gaze with that stupid smirk still there. “It appears to me that you are trying to create some sort of competition out of me learning to converse with others. Am I correct in my assumption?”

“Unfortunately yes.” You said through grit teeth. “How could you tell?”

“You tend to furrow your eyebrows and blink rather aggressively when you come up with plans that will ultimately fail in your favor and leave the other person as the victor.” 

“Conrad I am not afraid to throw hands right here right now.”

Now that took him for a loop. He genuinely looked confused by what you said and gazed off to the side in what you think was him looking up what the phrase meant. Bless his heart. “You want to fight me?” He asked, voice filled with curiosity with just a hint of disbelief. Maybe throw in some ‘you’re a real idiot if you think you could win in a fight against me’. 

You, rather childishly, nodded and leaned back against the chair, arms crossed aggressively and scooting the chair closer to the table also aggressively. “Hell yeah, man.”

That all knowing smirk was back in full force. “Bold of you to assume that I would even let you within a feet of me if you were to ever try and ‘throw hands’ my way.” 

Any fight that was building up immediately left the building the second he said the first word. You gasped loudly, grinning full force and clapped your hands together, kicking your legs a bit as well. “Old meme but it still works!! I’m so proud of you holy shit, Nines!”

Even though a beautiful blue blush took over his freckled cheeks, he puffed out his chest with pride and smiled. It was a little wonky and too pulled to the side but hey, it’s the thought that counts. It just meant that you would have to double your efforts to get him to smile more naturally. 

“Again, please either call me by my first or middle name. Stop going back and forth.” 

You waved him off, not letting him knock you off your high. “Yeah yeah yeah whatever. Nines is a cute name.”

Conrat scoffed. “It's lazy attempt at a name that Lieutenant Reed had given me.” He absolutely still liked being called Nines. Sure it was childish and short for his model number but you knew he thought fondly of it no matter what. It’s why he kept it as his middle name afterall. 

“Still pretty cute in my book.” You were going to say more but you perked up when the drinks had arrived. 

You nearly moaned in happiness at seeing your drink. The Destroyer came in a fishbowl though was nonalcoholic. It was the middle of the afternoon so you laid off any Adult Drinks but it was just as good if not better. It was an awful yet amazing amalgamation of different flavors that really shouldn’t work together but does and you love it for that. 

Conrad on the other hand didn’t share your enthusiasm. He looked positively horrified by the colors that were slowly melting together and turning into a brown mush that drowned the various sour gummy worms and marshmallows and mochi and- Were, were those those weird Finding Nemo fish egg things? 

You have no idea what they’re actually called but man oh man are they good. “Thank you so much! This looks amazing!” You exclaimed, smiling politely at the waitress who smiled back. 

You oh so casually nudged your foot to Conrad for him to try and start short chat with the lady. His eyebrows furrowed at you. 

“And here’s your Night Owl, sir.” She placed the dark blue drink down in front of him, resting the drink trap against her thighs. “Your food will be out in a second. I hope you enjoy your drinks.”

You could visibly see Conrad stir in his spot as he watched his window of opportunity slip between his fingers. He opened his mouth for a second before sighing. “Thank you.” He muttered, quite obviously deflating as he took the straw from his wrapping. 

She gave the both of you one last smile before turning and heading back off into the hustle and bustle of the cafe. 

“You alright there, champ?” 

“It’s..” Conrad played with the straw, meticulously insuring that there was no crinkle in it before taking a careful sip. “Talking with no goal in mind is proving to more difficult than I had previously expected . Usually when I’m on a case it’s much easier to talk to a suspect since I already know what the end goal is and I would be able to figure out the best course of actions depending on the situation.”

He grew silent after a second, focused intently on his drink as he slowly circled the straw within the cup and sighed once more. “ _It’s difficult._ I wasn’t built to converse normally. I am, quite literally, a machine whose sole purpose was to solve deadly cases and to complete my mission no matter the consequences. I _killed_ people for my missions even if they may have been innocent and were it not for you and Connor and Hank and hell even Gavin I would still be like that!” 

Conrads hands shook as he held them together, fingers intertwined together as he tried to regain his composure. His breathing was shaky at best and he refused to look up at you. You felt your heart ache for him. 

“Conrad,” You called out softly, reaching out to take his shaking hands into your own. “This is a learning process. No one blames you for whatever you did when Cyberlife had control over you. You’re your own person now and no one can take that away from you. All you can do now is improve yourself, learn from your mistakes, and focus on tomorrow instead of yesterday. So what if you’re a little awkward when it comes to talking to people? Honestly, it makes you seem like such a cutie and I doubt that anyone would hold it against you.”

Aha! That blush was back along with a crack of a smile that he was trying hard to suppress. “Me being unable to form proper sentences in front of others is cute to you?”

Oh shit. Now it's your turn to blush. “I did not say that! And anyways that's besides the point. You're supposed to be super impressed by my heartwarming speech and then have a sudden boost confidence and flex on all the haters or whatever.”

He smirked, taking a sip from his drink. “‘Honestly, it makes you seem like such a cutie..’ Those were your words exactly.” 

Is that really what you sounded like? He had mimicked exactly what you sound like and now you hate yourself tenfold for saying something so cheesy. “I said how you act makes you seem like a cutie!! There's a big difference between that and me calling you cute.” 

He rested his chin on top of interlocked fingers, the smirk never faltering for a second as he stared you down. You swear to god that that was his super power or something because it never failed to make your knees weak. “Do you not find me attractive?” 

It feels like there's a spoon grinding in the gutter that is your brain. 

“No!” He hummed and you flailed your arms around searching for the right words. “Ah shit- like!! You're plenty attractive!! You're super handsome and dare I say adorable at times!”

“So you only like me for my looks?” He asked. “And here I thought you were my friend because of my marvelous personality.” 

Oh. So he was joking about this. Fantastic. “I am friends with you for your personality! I’m not a shallow bitch who’s only into people for their looks.”

Wrong way of phrasing. His smirk grew if that was even possible, pearly white teeth starting to peek out from behind his lips. “You admit that you’re ‘into’ me then.”

You groaned, burying your face into your hands. “Shut up dude. We’re getting way off track. Don’t think I didn’t notice how you’re only trying to get me flustered to avoid talking about your feelings. I’m not as dumb as I act.” Your voice was muffled but he clearly heard you. Parting your fingers that covered your eyes you could see him stiffen up and turn his head away.

“I haven't the slightest clue as to what you mean.” 

“Aw come on don’t be like that.” You finally lifted your head up. “We gotta talk about this. It’s not good for you to keep all those emotions in or else you’ll self destruct- literally in this case.”

Conrad sighed, reluctantly turning to face you once more, running his hands through his hair and ruining its once pristine form. That was a small victory in your book. He was slowly but surely becoming less concerned with his outward appearance though there was always going to be his character quirk of wanting to look like a runway model on the run. A look he nailed flawlessly. 

He idly tapped against the sides of the glass of his drink. You took a sip from your own. Gosh is it good. “Or we don’t have to if you don’t want to. We could talk about it whenever you want to. I’ve been pretty pushy enough today.”

He cracked a smile. “Only a little pushy but I know you mean well. You want the best for me and I appreciate it.”

“You’re my only real friend so I want to make sure you feel good about yourself,” You admitted softly, trying to hide behind the glass. “It would suck to find out years from now that you were silently suffering through your own issues and I could have done something to help but didn’t.”

Conrad gently said your name and you shrugged in response. It was true. You really cared about him and the thought of him struggling hurt you more than you thought it would have.

The following was only a little suffocating. There wasn’t much to be said unless the two of you wanted to go into philosophical theories and other things of that nature. So, being the goofball you were, you decided to pester him for a bit.

“Lemme try your drink.” You made grabby hands like the stable adult you were.

Conrad immediately pulled the glass away from you. “No.”

Queue whine. “Why nooooot???”

“For starters, it’s thirium which is deadly to humans and if you were to consume enough of it then it would most certainly result in you being poisoned and suffer a long and painful death which I’m not too fond of.”  
“How much would I have to drink.” It was a valid question.

“Enough.” He answered, leaving no room for argument. 

“But it looks so pretty! It has a nice gradient and everything you can’t expect me to see that masterpiece and not want to try some.” Just whine a little more and he’ll cave in. Just a little more.

He sighed deeply. You weren’t wrong about it looking pretty. The drink was in a tall thin glass that was nearly half the size of his forearm topped with a cute pale gold umbrella along with some sakura blossoms floating at the top. It was a pretty shade of baby blue near the top and was a gradient of blues until it was at its darkest at the bottom. The fact that it was half empty didn’t take away from the wow factor. 

“Just a sip.” It wouldn’t hurt to try.

Another long, deep, drawn out sigh. 

He slid the glass over your way with the speed of a snail. “One sip. One second sip.” The straw was already between your lips before he could finish. 

The instant that you tasted it you immediately recoiled and stuck your tongue out. “That’s awful!” 

“I’d assume so. You are human after all and that is completely made up of a chemical that humans should not consume.” …...He didn’t have to sound so smug about it.

The time spent waiting was filled with the two of you having a back and forth of half hearted insults which turned into full hearted compliments which then spiraled into who could compliment the other the best. Needless to say, neither of you had won and the only thing that came from the exchange was the both of you red and blue in the face.

The rest of lunch went smoothly but you didn’t expect any less. Lunch with Conrad is always easy and feel goody no matter what topics happened to pop up. By the time you had finished your food the waitress had stopped by to drop off the check. A silent fight broke out between you two on who was going to pay for it this time but, as always, Conrad had ended up winning. The DPD must be paying him well. 

Once all was said and done Conrad had offered to walk you back to your car. The easy air between you two lead to you scheduling a time to spend time together. 

You would be the first to admit that you wanted Conrad all to yourself and it showed when you were reluctant to walk any faster than a brisk walk. More than once had he have to remind you to pick up the pace after a few people had walked around you two from how slow you were going. He’s just such a great friend and person!! Anyone in your shoes would want to spend as much time as they could with him.

“We need to hang out together more.” You said, close to him down the sidewalk to avoid bumping into anybody. 

Conrad nodded, staying vigilant and would press his hand against the small of your back to guide you away from oncoming traffic. “We should. I’m free this upcoming weekend if you are available. I wouldn’t mind us going out to eat once more or us doing whatever you wish at your apartment.” Always so accommodating. 

“This weekend works! We could shoot the shit all weekend if you wanna then go club hopping at night.” His LED turned a pretty yellow with a even prettier smile following. He chuckled and shook his head though didn’t refuse your silly suggestion.

“You know as well as I do that we would most likely stay inside with your cat and watch those twenty first century shows that you like,” He looked at you, the smile spreading a bit and showing off his dimples. “I believe that we are mid season for Supernatural. The trash show as you so eloquently described it.”

 _“It is a trash show.”_

“My research shows that it was very well received when it was on air.”

“It base audience was horny teenagers.”

“My research shows that you were a teenager during the peak of its popularity.”

“Must be a coincidence.” 

“Ah, I found an old email of yours that links back to a Tumblr blog where you were ‘thirst posting’ for the main cast along with most of the supporting cast-”

You immediately reached up to cover his mouth. “Okay that’s enough of that! It was a pleasure as always to chat with you but oh look at the time!! I’ve gotta get going!!”

Conrad’s shoulders shook with self contained laughter and he gently removed your hands. “I will see you next weekend then?”

“Wouldn’t miss it for the world.” And you meant it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> laughs
> 
> originally, it was supposed to be conrad like,,, chatting up the waitress then having to deal with holding a conversation with her while the reader urged him on and supplied conversation topics. and then there was supposed to be a cute scene near the end where he was all like 'i asked for her name and she grew very flustered when i told her the various meanings for it from different cultures. was that the right thing to do?' or smth like that bc connor isnt the only android who can be an oblivious dummy
> 
> anyways!!! i did nearly all of this in one sitting and in one day so im pretty proud of myself. if you couldnt tell already, i didnt have a beta reader so feel free to tell me about any fuck ups you find


	2. meeting your new pseudo uncle and dad

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You get curious and go visit Conrad at work !!

Maybe randomly going to the DPD to surprise Conrad wasn’t your most thought out plan. 

BUT to be fair, if you didn’t decide to go there yourself then you were never going to see what it was that Conrad does all day. The worst you could see was maybe a cop or two covered in blood or someone in hysterics which honestly wasn’t too bad of an outcome. 

With your GPS telling you where the DPD was, you found yourself seated at what you guess was his desk since the receptionist had told you to wait by it. Pretty loose security but you guess that a police station was the safest place to be. 

So you waited and waited and waited even more for your elusive android buddy to show his face only for it to never come. You groaned and sunk further into his seat as you spun around slowly to not fall asleep. 

Today was a day off so waiting around here all day wasn’t too much of a loss but come on! You were getting bored out of your mind from sitting here for a whole five minutes. 

Might as well snoop around and see what he’s got hidden.

His desk was covered in origami animals that looked like had a small war since some were unfolded or were pinned by another paper creature. Huh. You didn’t know that he liked to do origami. 

There were some framed pictures of a few people you didn’t know but the one who caught your attention the most was a man who looked nearly identical to Conrad. Picking up the picture carefully you could see that the only real differences between them was their eye colors and hair type. The lookalike had warm brown eyes and straight hair though they both shared the stubborn tuft of hair that refused to be pulled back. 

“So you’re Connor.” You mumble to yourself, smiling softly. 

Conrad was smiling. Connor’s arm was wrapped loosely around Conrad’s arm, pulling him close and laughing at something out of reach while Conrad was holding back from smiling but the picture was taken at the right moment when his cool persona cracked. 

Carefully, you set the picture back down to where it was. The next photo that caught your eye was one of you. It wasn’t too big or took up center attention but that didn't matter to you. Your picture was tucked away behind the monitor but pushed down enough that it could easily be seen if you were to look for it. Honestly you don’t think you looked too good in it but the fact that Conrad had taken the time to print out a picture of you made you feel all warm and fuzzy. 

“Who the hell are you supposed to be.” 

You froze up. Crap. Crapcrapcrapcrap. It had be against some sort of law to be sitting in a detective's desk that didn’t belong to you. 

It took you a whole four seconds to spin around to face the annoyed voice that had snuck up behind you.

The man in front of you looked exactly what you expected someone in the police force to look like. He was rugged and looked pretty annoyed and done with everyones shit with a super cool looking scar going across his nose. The only thing he was missing was a donut in hand.

“I’m uh,” Your awkwardly smiled at him. “I’m just some person looking for another person.”

He rolled his eyes and crossed his arms. “Yeah, I figured as much smart ass. You gonna tell me who that person is or am I gonna have you throw you outta here?”

He took a step towards you and you immediately stepped back, much to his amusement. Dudebro was quickly going from cool status to major asshole status in one second flat.

“His name is Conrad. I’m a friend of his and wanted to see when he was on break.” You finally say, shoulders tense as you wait for his reaction.

And what a reaction indeed. The guys face went through all sorts of expressions as he tried to process exactly what you had just said to him until he settled on laughing his ass off. His laughter rang through the building with more than one head turning to see what the commotion was. 

“Look man, if you’re not gonna tell me where he is then I’m gonna go ask someone else.” You snap, ready to walk past him. 

“Chill out I’m just busting your balls,” He snickered. “But yeah, I know him. He used to be my partner a while back when I was a detective. Con’s out doing something but he should be back in a minute. Plastic prick found a good lead and wouldn’t shut up until I let him go sniff it out.”

The insult made you get on guard. Who the hell did this guy think he was to call Conrad that? As if sensing your anger, he held his hands up in defense, a crooked grin spreading. “Put down the claws before you mawl me the death. Me and him are good pals, he’s alright with me calling him that. Y’know, in moderation.”

“And just who are you?” 

He dramatically hit his forehead and extended his hand out to you though didn’t give you an option whether or not you wanted to shake it. “Gavin Reed. Though I’m now known as Lieutenant Reed so I’d rather you call me Lieutenant since I worked my ass and my whole nutsack off to earn that title.” 

You cringed at that last bit but shook his hand anyways. So this was the cocky Gavin Reed. You’re not exactly sure what you expected but now that he’s standing right in front of you.. He’s meeting everything you thought he might have been from what Conrad has told you about him. 

“So, Con’s told me about this little buddy he’s had for a while now but he’s never actually brought you around. Any reason for that?” Gavin leaned against his desk as he looked at you. 

You cleared your throat uncomfortably. Conrad has talked about you? “Huh- No? I-I don’t really think so.”

“Y’all fucking or something?” 

What happened next wasn’t your proudest moment and you’re sure that when you look back on it you’ll forever be embarrassed by that one time you almost got yourself killed because you’re dumb brain forgot that spit wasn’t supposed to go down to the pipe where air was.

You hacked and coughed for a solid minute with Gavin standing there now knowing what to do. Bless his soul because the poor man was off spouting how he’s sorry that he was probably going to be the last person you ever speak to before you die and how he regrets not asking you about because you’re pretty good looking. 

“Jesus Christ Reed. We’re supposed to save civis, not nearly get them killed!” A gruff and tired voice came from besides you and not long later a rough heavy hand was place at your back, patting it to held you cough up your whole fucking lung. 

You wheezed, swallowing thickly as you tried your hardest to not run out of the damn place. “I’m fine.” You say, clearly not fine. 

The gruff voice grunted. “Obviously. The hell did you say to them to make them nearly hack up a lung?” 

Gavin huffed, turning his head away and scratching the back of it. “I asked what their intentions were with Conrad.”

The unknown man looked very confused very fast. “Conrad?”

“He’s my friend,” You supplied then glared at Gavin. “And he asked me if I was fucking him. Which I’m not by the way.”

“Hey! Don’t give me that look, Con’s a good friend so you can’t blame me for getting suspicious when my socially awkward android buddy has a new friend pop up out of nowhere and starts asking for him.” 

“Conrad? _Our Conrad?_ He has _friends?_ ” 

You looked up to find a man who was well aged and absolutely tired of everything. His long white hair was pulled into a low ponytail with stubborn strands of hair hanging out in front of his face. Not bad tbh. 

“Can someone please just tell me where he is. I really want to just talk to Conrad before he has to go do some other cool police stuff.” And you were also getting pretty annoyed that these two thought it was weird that Conrad could have a friend.

It made you feel all sorts of things but anger and confusion was at the forefront. Was he not friendly at work? Sure he wasn't too personable with you in a one on one situation but he always made an attempt to make you laugh and humor you in whatever dumb stuff you decide to spew out that day. Now you really wanted to find him.

As if answering your prayers you heard a familiar voice calling your name. You whipped around so fast you almost lost your balance. 

Conrad stood there with a very confused expression as you looked you over, his eyes narrowed lightly and head tilted back slightly. You sighed. 

“Dude, I'm perfectly fine you don’t have to scan me.” You scold lightly.

He grumbled something under his breath but held his arm out all the same for the two of you to hug. It was only a few seconds in that you felt him stiffen up and you remembered that you were still at his place of work. Which meant that the old guy and Gavin and probably everyone saw Conrad hugging you.

And sure enough, when you looked up you saw eyes all glued to the two of you. Most of the staff looked extremely shocked while others were smiling and whispering to each other. To your utmost surprise, Conrad hadn’t pulled away despite the amount of people watching and it was actually you who had shoved him off to save him from an onslaught of questions, namely from Gavin.

“ _And_ he lets you hug him??” Gavin exclaimed with a huff, glaring at Conrad. “Alright ya plastic prick who the hell is this civ and why are the two of you so chummy chummy with each other?”

Conrad pointedly ignored him in favor of nodding slightly to the older man who was silently watching the scene unfold. “Captain Anderson it’s nice to see you. How is Connor?”

The old guy - Captain Anderson apparently - simply shrugged and did that iffy hand motion. “Eh, he’s been better. That ‘droid virus cold-like this got to him but he’s getting better. I checked up on him and he was just about to go into that sleep mode thing. He told me to say hi to you before.”

A smile tugged at the edges of Conrad's lips. “I’ll make sure to visit once I’m off work. Anyhow, since I’m well aware of how nosey you two are please let me formally introduce you to my friend.”

“Best friend.” You interjected, nudging his arm playfully. 

He chuckled. “Yes, my best friend.” He said your name along with a brief description of where you worked and let you take the reigns from there.

You weren’t sure why you felt so nervous all of the sudden. It wasn’t as if you were meeting his family for the first time though you guess this was the closest to that as you’ll possibly get. This was the same Anderson and Gavin that he speaks so highly of so you really couldn’t mess up a first impression anymore than you already had. 

You grinned sheepishly and held your hand out to Anderson only for him to take it then pull you into a big hug. He laughed loudly and patted your back, making you wince slightly. How the hell could an old man like him have so much strength. 

“None of that formal shit in my precinct. Just call me Hank, kiddo, no way I’m gonna let you slip away if you’ve been able to make friends with Conrad. I can’t wait until you meet Connor he’s going to absolutely lose his shit when he finds out.” 

Conrad crossed his arms with a slightly annoyed huff. “My having friendships with those outside of works should not be this much of a surprise to any of you.” 

You snicker into Hanks shirt, tapping him lightly for him to let you go and he does, ruffling your hair in that fatherly sort of way and squeezes your shoulder. Hank seemed genuinely happy for that Conrad had you in his life and you couldn’t help but feel the tiniest bit embarrassed. 

“It’s hard to imagine you with any friends since you always seem to have a permanent stick up your ass.” Gavin chimed in, for some reason still hanging around. “You’re buddy here is a whole lot more chipper than what I thought a friend of yours would be.”

“Oh? And what did you think a hypothetical friend of mine would act like?” You snickered as you hung back with Hank to watch the two of them go at it.  
“I don’t know man, like, some emo Sheldon Cooper lookin’ asshole who speaks in big words because he tries to act smarter than they actually are. Though that is you isn’t it-”

“Think before you continue that scentecne very carefully, Reed.”

“ _Lieutenant_ Reed to you, plastic prick.”

They shot insults back and forth with each other until Gavin broke first into a fit of laughter and Conrad snickered silently. You grinned brightly. 

“Are they always like this?” You ask Hank, watching the pair continue to go back and forth with increasingly bad insults. 

Hank let out a bark of a laugh. “Whenever they get stuck in the same radius with each other for more than two minutes. Haven’t been able to hang out as much since Reed was promoted and Conrad oversees his own division of cases.” 

It was nice to know that Conrad had some friendly banter with someone other than you but that then brings you to another point of why you cared so damn much. It was starting to creep you out how much you cared about his social life and what he does outside of you. The guy didn’t tell you that much about his personal life so maybe that was the reason but still. Might be time to ease off of him for a while.

There was a call of your name and you perked up, looking in the direction and saw Conrad gently smiling at you, his eyes creasing slightly. “Are you alright? You became dazed for a moment and my assessment of your health came back that your heart rate increased.”

Oh. 

Fun. 

“Thanks Conrad,” You smiled weakly. “I’m just peachy and stop reading up on me. Remember how we talked about reading body language?” You try to tease him to forget the fact that you were suddenly coming to the realization that you may have a crush on your friend. 

He bowed his head a bit into his turtleneck bashfully. Oh come on Conrad stop it. He was making this so much harder now that you were aware of your feelings. Jesus Christ how long has this been a thing??

“I’m working to better improve it though it is a struggle to utilize that feature when it’s not for work purposes.” He admitted, steadily finding himself closer to you which was the last thing you needed right now.

You laughed if only to do something other than stand there with your mouth wide open and think of something semi intelligible to say. “You’re getting there, buddy. It takes time and a whole lot of effort to get as amazing it as I am.” 

He hummed. “Hopefully I’ll be better at it than you because there has been more than one instance where you failed to read the atmosphere of a room and said the wrong thing.” He oh so kindly reminded you. 

You gasped and punched his shoulder though it did little to sway him on his feet. “Don’t remind me of that!! I still get nightmares from that night!!”

Conrad broke into a full on laugh. Gee wiz did it suddenly get a 100% hotter in the room? You felt your entire body burn as he laughed, your hands fidgeting slightly and you had to literally keep yourself from reaching out to hold his. 

When he stopped you fucking stood there like a fish out of water. Your two brain cells stopped gawking at him for a second to finally ask him to lunch, you know, the other reason why you came by to the DPD in the first place.

“You wanna grab a bite to eat?” You ask, a little winded. 

“Of course. Let me put away a few things then we can go.” He said his goodbyes to Hank and Gavin who were CONVENIENTLY silent the entire time during that display.

You turned to stone when the each placed a hand on your shoulders. Conrad might be blind or playing blind to your sudden dumbness but these two definitely hadn’t.

“You’ve got it bad, kid.” Hank 

“Did you find out you like him right then and there or something? You had the whole deer in headlights look on your face for a while and it was pretty fucking hilarious to watch play out.” Gavin, ever the moral support, laughed at your expense and roughly patted your shoulder before letting go. 

At least Hank had the decency to not be too mean about it but that hope quickly faded when you saw that he had pulled his phone out and was typing away. 

“Who are you texting?” You absolutely did not squeak. 

“Connor.” 

“Why are you texting Conrad’s brother.” You were instantly on your way to snatch the phone from his hands but the old bastard easily raised it higher so you couldn’t.

“Your future brother-in-law deserves to know about this recent development. Aaaand send.” Hank grinned cheekily at you. 

“You’re fucking dead old man-”

“Are you ready to go?” A calm warm voice eased your nerves and all hate left your body. 

Conrad had left his tie back at his desk and undid the first few buttons of his dress shirt, his DPD issued badge left behind as well and holy shit was that cologne you smell???

The only thing that made you move was a hand at your back that pushed you forward who you can only assumed belonged to Gavin. You nodded quickly, willing your blush to go away as you went to stand by him. 

“I give it a month until anything happens.” Hank says, stroking his beard in thought.

“Nah, a week tops.” Gavin snickered when you flipped them both off behind Conrad's back.


End file.
